Pivot means for an electrical fitting or the like



Dec. 5, 1967 GOLDSOBEL P IVO'I MEANS FOR AN ELECTRICAL FITTING OR THELIKE Filed NOV. 1, 1965 INVENTOR A/omm gamma BY ,1

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,356,247 PIVOT MEANS FQR AN ELECTRECALFHTTING GR THE LHKE Norman Goldsobel, Commack, N.Y., assignor toElectrical Fittings Corporation, East Farmingdale, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Filed Nov. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 565,809 4 Claims.(til. 22-31) This invention relates to pivot means for securing arotatable cover to a body of an electrical fitting or like structure,whereby the fitting may be easily opened and closed for threading wiretherethrough.

The invention illustrated and claimed herein is an improvement of theinvention depicted and claimed in my copending application Ser. No.420,582, filed Dec. 23, 1964, and entitled, Electrical Fitting EntranceCap.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide an improvedpivotal structure for securing a rotatable cover with respect to thebody of an electrical fitting or similar structure, whereby the cover isreadily assembled to the fitting body and detachable therefrom.

It is a further object of the invention to provide improved pivotingmeans for electrical fittings such as entrance caps where the fittingmay be easily opened and closed for threading wire therethrough byreason of the fact that the cover is securely rotatably captivated tothe body for such normal pivotal use of the cover. In addition, thestructure of the invention permits the cover to be assembled to the bodyand disassembled therefrom as Well as being opened and closed manually,and this may be carried out by the use of one hand only when the body ofthe entrance cap is securely attached to a conduit.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription of the invention taken in conjunction with the figures, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of an electrical fitting in sectionillustrating the pivotal means in accordance with the invention forrotatably captivating the fitting cover to the fitting body and forattaching and detaching said cover and body;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the fitting contemplated inFIG. 1 (an entrance cap) and which figure is essentially a right-sideview of FIG. 1 wherein the continuous outline of the cover depicts samein closed status and the phantom outline of the cover depicts same inopen status;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section of the illustrated fitting, which figureis essentially a right-side view of FIG. 1 and depicts the cammingaction between the pivot key and fitting cover;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the pivot key elements in accordancewith the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cover-slot structure for engagingthe pivot ke with the cover depicted in upside-down position.

As noted hereinbefore, the pivot means of the instant invention is animprovement of my copending Serial No. 420,582. Reference to suchapplication is made for a detailed description and backgroundexplanation of the prior art and the significance of this invention asapplied to an electrical fitting such as an entrance cap. Consequently,the structure illustrated and described herein is confined to thespecific improvement claimed herein. With the view of simplification,the parts and elements of the pivot structure depicted and claimedherein are individually identified by the same reference numbers usedfor the corresponding parts and elements of the similar pivot structureof said copending application.

As known in the art, electrical power feeder lines are received by anentrance cap 54 (the fitting con- 3g35924'7 Patented Dec. 5, 1967templated herein) and pass through the interior of entrance cap 50wherein such wires continue into the wire conduit (not shown herein) towhich entrance cap 51) is secured. One advantage of the inventionresides in rendering entrance cap cover 51 rotatably secured and latchedto an entrance cap body 52 without screw attachment means. As a result,cover 51 is readily attached to body 52 and detached therefrom manually.This may be effected at the place of installation by the electrician,who, standing on a ladder, may carry out the job of threading wire intoentrance cap 50 while such fitting is secured to the wire conduit. Thestructure thus permits the electrician to flip closed cover 51 by hisfinger or pry open the latched cover 51 by any available prying toolsuch as the blade of a screwdriver.

Cover 51 is pivotally attached to body 52 by means of an car 70extending integrally from cover 51. Ear 70 consists of a pair of fiatwall members 71, 72, each essentially at right angle relationship withrespect to the other. Member '71 is in a plane substantially parallel tothe plane of cover 51, whereas member 72 is in a vertical plane as seenin FIG. 1. Ear members 71, 72 have interconnecting bayonet slots 73, 74.Slot 74 is a lengthwise and narrow width bayonet slot in member 72communicating with a C-shaped bayonet slot 73 (FIG. 5) of larger widthin member 711. Slots 73, 74 operationally engage a key 75 extendingaxially from an ear 76, which ear 76 is an integral extension ofentrance cap body wall 67. Key 75 comprises a small diameter shank '77,an enlarged head 78 at the front of shank 77 and a cam 79a extendingupright from the forward face of head 78. The top of cam '79:: isrounded at and with head 78 ends in a vertical plane confronting car 76to form a gap therebetween, which gap surrounds shank 77. The bottom ofcam extension 79a is flat and forms a fulcrum at 89 where it joins withhead 78, see FIG. 1. The purpose of fulcrum 8d will be explainedhereinafter.

Bayonet slots 73, 7d and key 75 are complementary shaped to permitattachment and removal of cover 5'1 with respect to body 52, but whenthese parts are engaged cover 51 is rotationally captivated to body 52and cannot become accidentally detached therefrom during normaloperational use, whether cover 51 is in opened or closed position orwhile swinging same from one to the other of such positions.

The solid outline in section of cover 51 in FIG. 2 depicts same inclosed position. Cover 51 is rotated counterclockwise, as viewed in FIG.2, to open the entrance cap 50. This is depicted in phantom outline inFIG. 2. Abutment of ear surface 81, see FIG. 5, with body 52 acts as alimit stop. When cover 5'1 is attached to body 52, bayonet slot 74 isrotatably captivated on shank 77 between ear 76 and the combinedstructure of enlarged head 78 and its oarm extension 79a. Enlarged head78 is dimensionally wider than slot 74; however as seen in FIG. 2, thewidth of cam 79a is narrower than the width of slot 74-.

FIGS. 1, 2 illustrate the manner of attaching and disassembling cover 51with respect to body 52. Cover 51 is held upside-down with its earmember 72 in front of key 75 and with bayonet slot 74 substantiallyupright. Cover 51 is then tilted at about a 45 angle, as depicted insolid outline in FIG. 1, to permit the opening formed by slot 74 andC-shaped bayonet slot 73 to mount over the combined structure of camextension 79a and enlarged head 78. At this stage of attachment, theedge 82 of slot 73 bears against fulcrum Sll formed by extension 79a andforward surface of head 7 8. Cover 51 is then pivoted about fulcrum fit)in the direction of arrow 83 (FIG. 1) to align ear member 72substantially upright in the gap surrounding shank 7'7. As cover 51pivots in direction of arrow 83, the opening formed by slots 73, 7dclears passed the head-cam structure 78, 79a. Cover 51 is then permittedto drop straight down to assume the phantom outline position as shown inFIG. 1. From this moment on, keyway slot 74 is captivated on shank 77between ear 76 and the confronting vertical face of head 78 and cam 79a.The phantom outline of cover 51 in FIGS. 1 and 2 correspond to an openstatus of "cover 51 with its slot '74 mounted on shank 77. This phantomillustration also depicts the orientation of cover 51 just prior tomounting same on key 75,

that is to say, just prior to tilting cover 51 in a 45 angle so as topermit enlarged C-shaped slot 73 to mount over extension 79a and head78. Cover 51 may now be rotated about the ax-is of shank 77, see arrow85 in FIG. 2, to close entrance cap 50 and this is depicted in solidoutline in FIG. 2.

Inasmuch as enlarged head 78 is greater than the width of slot 74, onceattached, cover 51 whether in its open or closed position and whilebeing rotated from one to the other of such positions remains captivatedto body 52. The respective dimension of these coacting parts provide aclearance 86 (see FIG. 1) with respect to body car 76 to permit tiltingand pivoting of cover 51 as it is being mounted on key 75 and removedtherefrom. It will also be noted that when cover 51 is in opened status(see FIG. 1), the forward end 126 of extension 79a axially overlaps slotedge 82 to captivate cover 51 in a vertical plane on key 75, shouldcover 51 for any reason be raised in the direction of arrow 87 shown inFIG. 2.

To remove cover 51, the abovedescribed attachment process is essentiallyreversed. Cover 51 is opened and then raised in the direction of arrow87, FIG. 2, for slot edge 82 to engage fulcrum 80. Then cover 51 isrotated clockwise, opposite to the direction of arrow 83, FIG. 1, about45 until the wide dimension of bayonet slot 73 clears enlarged head 78while slot 74 passes over cam extension 79a to permit removal of cover51.

Cover 51 is snap-latched to body 52 by a detent finger 89 punched from atab 90 depending integrally from cover 51. Body wall 67 includes anoutstanding boss 91, whereby upon closing cover 51, the upper edge offinger 89 spring-snaps under boss 91. A guide stud 92 at the rear ofboss 91 extends outwardly from body wall 67. The rear edge of tab 90 isdesigned to bear against stud 92. This bearing engagement maintainscover 51 properly aligned with respect to body 52 for latching andunlatching cover 51. Cover 51 is easily unlatched to open same by pryinga screwdriver blade or like object under tab 90 to lift sam up, wherebyfinger 89 clears boss 91.

The high-dome cam 79a serves to maintain proper operating alignment ofcover 51 with respect to body 52. When cover 51 is in open status,depicted in phantom outline in FIG. 1, the back wall of high-dome cam79a acts as a limit stop against which the adjacent surface of cover ear72 abuts. This limits the clockwise tilt of cover 51 due to its weight.That is to say, by holding ear 72 in a more pronounced vertical planewithin the gap surrounding shank 77, a better operating cover alignmentis achieved upon swinging cover 51 closed. It is recalled that cover 51is attached to body 52 by reason of cover slot 74 being captivated onbody shank 77. Hence, as cover 51 continues to swing clockwise to close,as viewed in FIG. 3, cover ear 72 tends to ride along shank 77 in adirection to misalign cover 51 with respect to body 52. Suchmisalignment could result in tab 90 not aligning properly with respectto guide 92 and boss 91. The high dome and rounded surface 125 acts as acam upon which the underside of cover car 71 rides as cover 51approaches its closed position, see FIG. 3, except now cover 51 isturning opposite to arrow 49. Camming cover 51 in this manner maintainssame properly aligned with respect to body 52. As a result, when theelectrician flips cover 51 to close, tab 90 automatically drops intoproper contiguous rela tionship against guide 92, thus automaticallyaligning finger 89 to snap under boss 91. Such spring-snap is effectedby the electrician pressing down with his hand on cover 51.

Another advantage achieved by the high-dome cam 79a is also depicted inFIG. 3. A hard pivot force is applied in the direction of arrow 49(FIGS. 2 and 3) to pry open a latched cover. As cover 51 swingscounterclockwise through intermediate positions receding from its closedstatus, cover ear 72 tends to ride along shank 77 in a direction toclose the gap G between the end 172 of car 72 and the adjacent body wall67. If cover ear 72 rides too far down on shank 77, its end 172 willwedge against the adjacent body wall 67 and this is not desirable. Thehigh dome and rounded surface 125 prevents such contact occurring.During an opening swing, should the impact of the prying force urge keyto ride relatively up slot 74, the undersurface of cover ear 71 camsagainst the rounded surface 125, as depicted in FIG. 3, therebypreventing ear 72 ever coming into contact with body wall 67.

It is intended that all matter contained in the above description orshown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. Pivot means for an electrical fitting or the like comprising, afitting body, a cover pivotally connected to said body for opening andclosing said electrical fitting, said cover and said body having firstand second mutually engageable means coacting for rotatably captivatingsaid cover and said body, said first means including a plurality ofspacially related communicating slots, said second means including awall having a multisectioned key extending axially from said wall, saidkey having tandem sections complementary in shape to respective sectionsof said related slots, whereby said cover being attachable to anddetachable from said body upon said cover assuming a given positionalstatus relative to said body, but otherwise said cover being rotatablycaptivated to said body for operatively opening and closing said cover,said key including a shank section intermediate said back wall and arelatively enlarged section at the forward end of said shank section,said enlarged section including a camming extension coacting with saidcover for maintaining suitable operative alignment of said cover withrespect to said body as said cover is pivotally flipped closed and assaid cover is opened.

2. Pivot means as defined in claim 1 further including, means on saidcover and body for latching said cover in closed status to said body,said cover having an outwardly extending ear and said ear including saidplurality of slots, said key wall being an integral part of said body,said ear being captivated on said key shank between said wall andenlarged section for maintaining alignment of said cover and said bodyfor latching of said cover to said body upon flipping said cover closed.

3. Pivot means as defined in claim 1, said cover having an outwardlyextending ear, said ear including said plurality of slots, said key wallbeing an integral part of said body, said ear being captivated on saidkey shank between said wall and enlarged section, said camming extensionbeing juxtaposed said ear when said cover is in closed status forcamming said cover to prevent wedging of said cover ear against saidbody as said cover is pivotally flipped to open status.

4. Pivot means as defined in claim 3 further including, means on saidcover and said body for latching said cover in closed status to saidbody, said camming extension also being juxtaposed said car as saidcover is pivoting to a closed status for maintaining alignment of saidcover for latching same to said body.

No references cited.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

I. B. MARBERT, Assistant Examiner.

1. PIVOT MEANS FOR AN ELECTRICAL FITTING OR THE LIKE COMPRISING, AFITTING BODY, A COVER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID BODY FOR OPENING ANDCLOSING SAID ELECTRICAL FITTING, SAID COVER AND SAID BODY HAVING FIRSTAND SECOND MUTUALLY ENGAGEABLE MEANS COACTING FOR ROTATABLY CAPTIVATINGSAID COVER AND SAID BODY, SAID FIRST MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OFSPACIALLY RELATED COMMUNICATING SLOTS, SAID SECOND MEANS INCLUDING AWALL HAVING A MULTISECTIONED KEY EXTENDING AXIALLY FROM SAID WALL, SAIDKEY HAVING TANDEM SECTIONS COMPLEMENTARY IN SHAPE TO RESPECTIVE SECTIONSOF SAID RELATED SLOTS, WHEREBY SAID COVER BEING ATTACHABLE TO ANDDETACHABLE FROM SAID BODY UPON SAID COVER ASSUMING A GIVEN POSITIONALSTATUS RELATIVE TO SAID BODY, BUT OTHERWISE SAID COVER BEING ROTATABLYCAPTIVATED TO SAID BODY FOR OPERATIVELY OPENING AND CLOSING SAID COVER,SAID KEY INCLUDING A SHANK SECTION INTERMEDIATE SAID BACK WALL AND AREALTIVELY ENLARGED SECTION AT THE FORWARD END OF SAID SHANK SECTION,SAID ENLARGED SECTION INCLUDING A CAMMING EXTENSION COACTING WITH SAIDCOVER FOR MAINTAINING SUITABLE OPERATIVE ALIGNMENT OF SAID COVER WITHREPSECT TO SAID BODY AS SAID COVER IS PIVOTALLY FLIPPED CLOSED AND ASSAID COVER IS OPENED.